cover image Sacred Creatures, Vol. 1

Sacred Creatures, Vol. 1

Pablo Raimondi and Klaus Janson. Image, $22.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-5343-0496-3

Raimondi (X-Factor) and Janson (Daredevil) team up to reimagine the seven deadly sins as bickering siblings in modern-day New York. The Sins are part of the Nephilim, an ancient race of superhumans who have been held in check by the angel Naviel for thousands of years. They form an uneasy alliance to free themselves from her control. But their murderous plans involve unlucky human Josh Miller, a young everyman and expectant father, ends up on the run from the law and the Sins. He’s accompanied by Father Adrian, a half-angel priest fighting to maintain the balance of good and evil in the world. Raimondi and Janson’s mythology revisits biblical stories such as Sodom and Gomorrah and the Tower of Babel in between present-day perils, all of which is vividly complemented by rich and arresting artwork that is by turns fantastical and authentically realistic. Familiar elements such as personifications of Judeo-Christian concepts, an absent God whose children are at odds, and Adrian’s resemblance to a humorless version of John Constantine will draw inevitable comparisons to genre classics such as Hellblazer or Sandman—and this effort may suffer for it—but the energy behind this ambitious saga will prove irresistible for lovers of gods and monsters. (May)